To think mumsnet posters must have a lot of £££

[TwoBabas]

General observation from reading posts on here is that there seem to be an awful lot of posters claiming either themselves or their partners are eating salaries of 100k plus.

Now am I being very naive or are people over exaggerating their financial situations. What type of job would put you in that range? Doctor? Headteacher? Lawyer?

Most people I know are skrimping by and don't have a lot to piss in.

But then perhaps I'm living amongst the not so wealthy sector.

Are people telling the truth do you think?

@Wanderergirl - I looked at this again yesterday on a job offer. Tbh given the additional responsibilities and nugatory money added, it is simply not worth it for the time these jobs take.

You may get some status. But frankly who cares. The finances don't work for the hours given. I could do much more, but it's the old "work life balance".

“think lifestyle in UK is very close of those on 50k and 200k.”

I don’t think this is really true at all. And one of the biggest differences is going to be ability to retire. Your £50k person might be putting in 10% into a pension and assume that is (generously matched at 10%) that would be £10k a year in the pension. The £200k person with the same percentages would be getting £40k in the pot. Over 5-10 years that difference is huge!

Many posters seem to post what their DH earns - to me that’s not relevant or interesting. What do you earn - are we seeing pay equality or is it still the norm for the mother to default to being the SAHP as they don’t earn enough? Why are females not earning the same or more than their male partner? What is happening in school/uni for this to keep happening?

@AInightingale we are not in 100k bracket on about the 80k but have more disposable income than many because we have had no mortgage since we were in our mid thirties.

We have spent a lot on holidays and going out for lunch and dinner.

That’s true, but in UK if you’re broke, state will pay universal credit on top of the pension, provide accommodation and so on. If you have collected your pension, bought a house etc., you'll have to pay for it all yourself. It is just me, but I find retirement to be irrelevant to my current livelihood, some people never make it to that age. Private pensions are probably more relevant to people who have children.

Because women sacrifice their careers to raise children.
It made sense for me to go on maternity leave and go part time because I breastfed for 3 years.

Is it really a problem? If your husband is the main earner then that should be fine, providing you get back to your career and you share things out properly, including marriage, childcare and pooling finances.
What's his is mine, what's mine is his.

It only causes problems when women allow themselves to be financially dependent on their partners and this vulnerable, especially if money is not shared and they're not married.

But thats for another thread right?

Well, it's a funny one isn't it?

Even if you're from a fairly modest background, you may find yourself in a better situation.

And what does that even mean?

I do think that the UK has a low-payment culture.

I remember in the 90s thinking that 50k a year would be minimum to have a decent lifestyle in London.

And what is a decent lifestyle?

What is a decent life? What does that even mean?

How do we live well?

That's the question.

You know my brother in law died this month.

I can't be arsed.

He earned 500k+ a year.

My sister earned about 150k

He's dead though. I really can't be arsed with bollockry.

You want to talk about brothers and sisters?

I earn fuck all. I've been through the mill. I don't work.

My husband? 30k a month. After tax.

My brother and his wife? 250k ish. A year.

My other sister? Bugger all, 12k. She's an artist.

My other brother, mebbe 60k. He's only 23.

I'm one of five.

And we are middle class people.

We're a mix of Independent schools, Catholic school, boarding school, state school.

We are Northern though.

And it does boggle my mind a bit that anyone thinks a UK average salary is ok, how is it ok? The average UK house price is about 10x the average UK salary. These numbers don't compute, how is that OK? How does a nurse living in London actually afford to live? We need nurses, and teachers, they're pretty central to a functioning society, I had a homebirth for my second child, it was brilliant, two midwives with me for seven hours, two women did a day's work with me to help me bring me bring my daughter into the world. If I'd paid them privately I'd have been more than happy to pay £1000+ each for the work they did.

That is what it was worth.

My DP and I both earn about 100k (me a bit less as I do 4 days a week). We’re very lucky. But we also live in London, have a ginormous mortgage, employ a nanny three days a week to enable us to work long hours and travel as needed, so by the time you remove those sizeable commitments (about £4700) there’s not as much left as you’d think.

@NewUser1111 that is a silly comment really.

You are;

A) Buying a property in the capital

B) Employing a nanny, which, whilst expensive, has an end, it's not an eternal cost, you're just on an expensive part of your lives..

Childcare does end. You will still have substantial salaries when it does.

@Galiana That’s unnecessarily rude. What’s your point exactly? I acknowledged we are fortunate, just making it clear that often those salaries come with additional costs behind them. We have to live in “the capital” for our jobs, like so many people on these salaries; like so many women, especially, I need absolute copper-bottomed childcare to enable me to do my job.

It's not unnecessarily rude.

It's just facts.

What's your point @NewUser1111?

Really.

What is your point?

EX council house!!!

I love this, there must be some truth to it.
I know a couple of families who probably earn around this amount. One is my neighbours children, my neighbours are nearly 80 so their kids are mid 40's, live in a massive house and go to the Maldives etc whenever they want, but THEIR children are obviously quite unhappy, they're missing their parents company and they go to a private school miles and miles away from their home town, they can't go out and about with friends after school or at the weekend.

I agree that 50k gives you all the extras you need, 200k will give you those same extras and then some, but does the 'and then some' make you THAT much happier when you have to sacrifice so much more?

I notice the opposite, how crap everyone’s earnings are, and how poor people are. It’s not my world at all. I live in a bubble it seems.